Friday, April 14, 2017

New Details Emerge Surrounding the Killing of a Retired World Bank Economist

The killer of a retired World Bank economist in Fairfax County may have cased the victim’s home before Johan de Leede was shot dead inside a little over a year ago, according to a newly returned search warrant, reports The Washington Post.

A week before the 83-year-old’s death, security lights on or near his home on the Potomac River in the Mason Neck area of Lorton, Virginia illuminated and dogs began to bark, according to a new search warrant filed by a Fairfax County police detective.

The suspect remained outside the $1 million home in an upscale neighborhood and shot through a back window, before slipping away into the night shortly after 1 a.m. on March 11, 2016, de Leede’s family said.

According to The Post, the search warrant states that two neighbors were awakened by the sound of a vehicle leaving the area at a high speed on the night of the shooting. In February, police announced that the vehicle was a dark, full-size pickup truck and asked for the public’s help in finding it.

To date, police have not named any suspects in de Leede’s killing, made any arrests or revealed a motive. A Fairfax County police spokesman said Wednesday there were no updates on the case.

Detectives wrote in the new search warrant the security lights on de Leede’s home were illuminated and dogs barked on Feb. 27. They wrote the activity may indicate a suspect was checking out de Leede’s home between the hours of 9 p.m. that night and 2 a.m. the next day.

The search warrant was filed to obtain records of cellphone activity on cell towers in the area around de Leede’s home during the period when detectives believe the suspect may have been casing de Leede’s home.